Ohio is likely to consider the medical pot for opioid addiction

Associated press

CLEVELAND

An Ohio physician and medical professor believes that medical cannabis should be used to treat opioid addiction in a state that has recorded a record number of overdose deaths last year.

Dr. F. Stuart Leeds is preparing data and research for submission to the State Medical Board of Ohio, which is considering expanding the current list of conditions for which doctors may recommend cannabis for medical purposes. Leeds acknowledges the limited data, but says some of the most eloquent research comes from his patients, some of whom are struggling with opioid addiction.

"Patients have been doing their own experiments on a variety of illicit drugs for decades," said Leeds, who practices and teaches family medicine at Wright State University, outside of Dayton. "They know more about what marijuana will do for their chronic pain and addiction issues than us."

Leeds is listed in the Ohio Register of Physicians who can recommend but not prescribe medical marijuana to 21 qualified diseases, such as epilepsy and chronic pain. The opioid consumption disorder is a qualifying condition in three other states of marijuana for medical purposes: New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Ohio Medical Board is accepting petitions requesting the addition of qualifying conditions until the end of the year and will consult with experts before making a decision next year. Cannabis-based products are expected to be available at Ohio clinics in the coming months, after the delay in program deployment.

Some experts do not think that treating opioid addiction with marijuana is a good idea, like Dr. Mark Hurst, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Hurst refused to be interviewed by the Associated Press, but he told Enquirer of Cincinnati in August: "There is no scientific evidence that marijuana is an effective treatment for drug dependence. opioids. "

Brad Lander, a clinical psychologist in the Department of Addiction Medicine at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, is also skeptical. He added that marijuana impairs judgment, motor control and memory, and is linked to the amotivational syndrome, which causes apathy and loss of interest in activities.

"Patients who smoke marijuana do not have the real motivation to seek treatment for long-term recovery or to improve their lives," Lander told AP.

Lander agrees with Leeds on the fact that there could be a short-term use for marijuana for medical purposes: alleviating the severe withdrawal symptoms badociated with the decrease of buprenorphine, a prescription drug. Opioid type used by convalescent people to calm heroin cravings and prescription pain killers.

Mr. Lander said he was also open to the possibility of using CBD oil, which contains only very small amounts of the psychoactive ingredient marijuana that makes the user more powerful if he is effective in the treatment of addiction.

In Ohio, the per capita overdose death rate is one of the highest in the country, with opioids contributing significantly to more than 4,800 unintentional fatal overdoses last year. Leeds, who will ask the medical commission to add anxiety as a qualification requirement, pointed out that, unlike opioids, it is virtually impossible to die from an overdose of marijuana.

In the suburbs of Dayton, John Helpling reported using a variety of pain medications after low back surgery in 2007, resulting in peripheral neuropathy and burning foot pain. Aged 57, the pain pills said, "I feel pretty useless."

He started treatment with CBD oil and marijuana at the beginning of the year and thinks he is about to put his life in order again. He said he stopped taking his prescription drugs in April and talked to his doctor about obtaining legal cannabis products when they would be available in Ohio.

"I feel better now," said Helpling. "I feel healthier. I feel that I have more purpose. "

Cannabis-based products were scheduled to be available on September 8, but the date was pushed back due to delays in the application and certification process of companies seeking to grow, test and sell marijuana-containing products. Helpling said it prefers to buy legal medical marijuana that has been tested for the detection of impurities and toxic pesticides, which is not guaranteed in marijuana purchased on the street.

Leeds recognizes that there is limited data to determine whether cannabis can help treat opioid addiction and said that doctors will have to ask "what could be the least harm?"